


The Struggle of Tough Decisions

by flintxwood



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Male Character, Friends to Lovers, Gay Male Character, Internalized Homophobia, Interracial Relationship, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 17:11:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9133447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flintxwood/pseuds/flintxwood
Summary: Albus and Scorpius have been dating in secret but after an argument that may have left a mess that cannot be fixed, Albus finds comfort in talking to his dad's old classmates Dean and Seamus, at the 2023 DA reunion as they chronicle their own love story.





	

Albus opened his eyes and smiled when he realised Scorpius was cuddled close to him, his light snores filling the room’s silence. He could hear footsteps downstairs as his family got ready for the day so he could only hope no one came upstairs to wake the pair up. They should get up soon to avoid the threat of it but the position they were in was far too comfortable to leave.

He heard Scorpius softly yawn and he nuzzled closer to him. Albus smiled. “Mornin’,” He mumbled.

“Good morning.”

They fell into a comfortable silence, simply holding each other, Albus tracing his finger along Scorpius’ back as Scorpius kept his face buried into Albus’s shoulder.

They rarely got moments like this. At Hogwarts it was almost impossible. They stole kisses in the rare moments their dorm was empty but they couldn’t snog without the risk of being caught. They’d thought about trying an empty classroom but before they could, another couple – a straight couple – had been caught by Peeves who was joyfully singing about it as he flew around the castle. The last thing they needed was Peeves catching them and the entire school finding out about them. Exactly the opposite of what he needed, everyone knowing Harry Potter’s Slytherin son and a former Death Eater’s son were snogging each other. That would definitely make the front page of every gossip column. Earlier in their friendship there was enough talk about them simply being friends, about how Harry Potter’s son could go on such a path, being sorted into Slytherin adding fuel to the fire. He avoided thinking about that situation but their relationship in this form would do nothing but restart sneers that ended years ago. 

Since it was the summer holidays they took the chance for a ‘sleepover’. Or really, their only real chance to kiss, or cuddle in the current case. His dad had come around to their friendship and Mr Malfoy had never had a problem with their friendship. He still wasn’t sure how either of their parents would react. No matter how things were it was still scary as fuck when you were the child of one of the most famous wizards in the world. 

They were still cuddled together when Albus heard footsteps walking down the corridor. In his panic he jumped out of his bed – Scorpius grunting as Albus’s arms pulled from under him – and Albus almost tripped on the foldup bed that was set out for Scorpius. He breathed heavily as the footsteps passed his room and grew softer as whoever it was got farther away. 

Albus let out a breath of relief and sat down on the foldup bed. “That was close,” he said.

He looked back up at Scorpius who was now sat up and pressing his lips together. “What?” he asked. 

“Nothing,” Scorpius muttered and tore his grey eyes away. 

“No, something’s up, what’s wrong?” Albus asked as he sat back next to Scorpius and wrapped his arms around his waist. Scorpius didn’t meet his eye but he let Albus rock him gently on the spot. 

“Scorp, c’mon, what is it?”

Scorpius sighed. “You didn’t need to react like that.”

“What do you mean?” Albus asked confused. 

Scorpius met his eye. Albus hadn’t gotten over how much he loved Scorpius’s grey eyes and stark white hair. He looked exactly like a younger version of his father, much like Albus did with his own. Same untameable hair, same bright green eyes. 

“Jumping off the bed like that,” he said. 

“Well how exactly would we explain why we were sleeping in the same bed, cuddling no less?”

Scorpius’s eyes left his, but Albus didn’t miss him mutter, “The truth?”

Albus held back a sighed. This again. Scorpius was far from pleased about keeping their relationship a secret. Scorpius had learnt to not care what others thought about him after years of rumours that he was the son of Voldemort. He’d made it clear he desperately wanted to come out but he wanted to do it with Albus rather than alone. Albus felt awful about making Scorpius feel this way but it was scary. Scary that the entire wizarding community would be buzzing about it. Scary that it’ll be a new reason to be seen as a disappointment. Scary that he was in love with his best friend.

That was probably the biggest thing. He broke the biggest rule; do not ever fall in love with your best friend. Do not ever let them know your feelings. Do not ever kiss them. Do not ever start a relationship with them. He broke all the rules. He was fucked a long time ago. 

“Babe-“ he began but Scorpius met his eye.

“Albus,” he interrupted, his voice rising slightly and standing up. “I’m tired of this, okay? I don’t want to do this with you if you refuse to tell people.” Tears were prickling in his eyes and that was the last thing Albus wanted to see. 

“Scorp, we talked about this.”

“No,” Scorpius bit at him. “No, you said we should keep it quiet for now and I agreed because what other goddamn choice did I have? I want to be with you but you keeping it quiet isn’t easy. I don’t want to sneak around with you. I figured at this point you’d stop caring so much about what other people think.”

Albus stared at him. Scorpius was rarely like this. He rarely raised his voice. He rarely tried to fight. It was only when he was really emotional and he was far past that point. Angry tears were rolling down his face as he spoke. 

“It’s hard Scorp, you’re my best friend,” he said softly, his eyes drifting away. “And… and a guy.”

“Oh what, scared everyone will be disappointed that Harry Potter has a huge fucking gay for a son?” his tone was hostile, a jab that was meant to hurt. 

“It’s not that – well not just that at least,” Albus replied. “It’s that how I feel about you is scary as fuck. I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”

Scorpius took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “Well, I think acting like a fucking wanker is going to ruin our friendship much faster than us dating.” 

Albus opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He was right but that didn’t lower Albus’s fear. 

When he didn’t reply Scorpius sighed. He picked up the bag he brought and stuffed his belongings into it. 

“What are you doing?” Albus asked softly. 

“I’m going home,” he muttered in reply. 

“Scorp-“

“Not now, Albus. I don’t really want to be around you right now.” Before Albus could squeeze in another word, Scorpius Disapparated out of the room. 

Albus stared at the spot where Scorpius had been. Scorpius wasn’t the type to leave when things were hostile but this wasn’t a situation they usually found themselves in. They both avoided going into detail of what their relationship meant, much less if they were going to tell people. They were both gay so it’s not like it could be avoided forever. But it was far too overwhelming. It was times like this he really wished he was like James. Athletic, a Gryffindor, straight. But he wasn’t any of those things. He’d continue to be the family disappointment, the black sheep. He definitely looked like his father but he was the farthest thing from being like him. 

He made his way downstairs and when questioned where Scorpius was, he simply muttered his dad sent an owl telling him to come home. He was meant to stay a few more days but not so much that it would raise too many questions. His mum put a stack of pancakes in front of him and he poured honey on top of them.

“Can’t wait until I can Apparate everywhere,” Lily said taking a huge bite of her pancakes. “It’ll be so much easier.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” his mum scolded. Lily grumbled and swallowed, muttering something under her breath. 

“It’s hard to learn, Lils,” James said, spreading strawberry jam on his pancakes. 

“Albus can do it so it can’t be that hard.”

“Haha,” he muttered in response. 

“Stop arguing, kids,” their dad replied, his eyes not leaving the Daily Prophet. “Keep that up and you can’t come to the DA reunion.”

Albus almost groaned. He knew there was no way they wouldn’t be going to the reunion. When they had the first reunion in 2014 at the Quidditch World Cup, all the members who had children had brought them. This year would be no different, almost ten years later, this time renting out a hall in Diagon Alley. Now that they were all older they weren’t really given a choice. He didn’t really want to go through being told a million times that he’d grown. And as far as he knew no one in the DA had a kid sorted into Slytherin so he wouldn’t even see a friendly face aside from his cousins. Although, he still didn’t get along too well with them. Maybe aside from Professor Longbottom but he was still a teacher. 

Lily muttered a “fine” and resumed to stuff pancakes into her mouth. 

“Do I really have to go?” Albus asked. 

“Yes, you do,” his dad said. “Don’t you want to see your cousins?”

“I could see them at Hogwarts if they talked to me,” he muttered. 

“You’re coming,” his dad said defiantly. 

“Fine,” he muttered. He almost added “if they’re okay with having a Slytherin there.” No matter how good his relationship with his dad was, distaste for Slytherins would always exist. Even being sorted into Hufflepuff wouldn’t have been as bad. At least people would’ve known he was loyal and hardworking, and at least people spent time with Hufflepuffs and not avoided them in the school corridor. Even Cedric Diggory was a Hufflepuff and he definitely would’ve had serious competition in the Tri Wizard Tournament when it came to being picked. It was a huge reason none of his cousins spent time with him. No matter what he did, no matter how much he tried to connect with them, he’d always be the cousin that got into Slytherin. 

“Why couldn’t we have had it at the world cup last year?” James asked. 

“Not everyone got tickets, more people can come this year, especially if we do it in a hall and rather than informally,” their dad explained. Albus was pretty thankful it wasn’t at a Quidditch game, he definitely didn’t want to be forced to play a game since he hated it so much with the add on of the winners celebrating for hours into the night. 

“Do we have to wear dress robes?” Lily asked. 

“’Course not,” he replied. “But at least try,” he said that while looking straight at Albus.

“Yes, yes, dad, I’ll try,” he grumbled in reply. 

“C’mon, aren’t you at least a little excited to see some adult wizards, especially ones that fought in the second world war?” James asked.

“I’ve met ‘em before,” he muttered. 

James sighed. “Fine, be like that.”

…

They travelled via floo powder to get to Diagon Alley since Lily was too young to Apparate and their mum didn’t want her to experience it too young. Lily tried to protest but they quickly got to their destination. Albus’s Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione were already there with their kids. Unsurprisingly, Rose had a book under her arm and an excited smile on her face. She was definitely excited to meet some older wizards, especially veterans of the Battle of Hogwarts. A few people were already there and cracks could be heard around the room as they Apparated, and more people travelling by floo powder. 

Albus moved to the corner of the room, a glass of fire whisky with him. Some of his cousins had grouped together, seeming to split by age groups. DA members’ children who were friends grouped together too. Albus never really realised how everyone else seemed to get along with each other while he spent his time with Scorpius. It seemed so natural how they got along while he just stood at the sidelines. He didn’t mind people watching, it did save him from “you have grown so much” comments and awkward interactions with people who clearly didn’t want to be around him. 

He let his eyes drift around the room, watching the DA members greet each other with hugs. He saw Professor Longbottom Apparate in with his wife, his round face grinning as he hugged Albus’s father. It was strange that this was the man who essentially saved the Wizarding World and had turned to being the Herbology teacher at Hogwarts. He was pretty good at his job though. 

In the midst of wizards Apparating, he saw two men he vaguely recognised Apparate into the room. His family had gone to the 2022 Quidditch World Cup game held in France last year; Ireland vs France. His parents talked briefly to them, in nothing more than a quick catch up, before separating to find their seats. He didn’t remember them from 2014 when the last DA reunion was held but his young age might’ve played a role. He watched the taller of the two give friendly hugs to his dad and mum, clearly pleased to see each other. 

There was something he didn’t miss though, something about the way they were standing together. The shorter of the two was talking animatedly, his hands touching the taller every so often, and the taller smiling down at the other, a look that was undeniably adoration. 

He watched the way they interacted, the way the taller gave slung his arm over the shorter’s shoulders and gave it an affectionate squeeze, quickly dropping his arm. The way the shorter looked at the taller and would briefly brush his arm against the others. And they each wore a gold band around their left ring finger.

It was painfully obvious they were a couple, even without the rings. 

His eyes followed the pair as they talked to other DA members, avidly catching up. The affectionate gestures continued, easy to miss if you weren’t paying close attention. They seemed… happy. Like, maybe he and Scorpius could be like that one day. 

“Enjoying the party, Albus?”

He tore his eyes away from the couple to see Professor Longbottom, holding a glass of fire whisky, his cheeks plump from his grin. 

“I guess,” he replied. Professor Longbottom had always been his favourite teacher, he always was one of the most kind at the school and never treated him – or Scorpius – the way others tended to. 

“How’s your holidays going, finishing your homework?” 

As he spoke he tried to look past him to the couple, grunting an “uh hu” as he did. 

With a curious look Professor Longbottom followed Albus’s gaze to the couple who were making themselves comfortable in a sitting area, sitting on a loveseat that was adjacent to a couple of armchairs. 

“Ah, Dean and Seamus, haven’t seen those two in years,” Professor Longbottom grinned turning back to Albus. 

“Were you friends?” Albus asked, tearing his eyes away from the pair.

“Yeah, we were in the same year as your dad – they’re Gryffindors too. Roomed with them for too many years. Although during seventh year it was just me and Seamus – the shorter one – since Dean’s a Muggle-born and your dad an uncle were… well, you definely know the history.”

Albus nodded. “Must’ve missed each other pretty bad,” he muttered, looking at the two again. Dean laughed at something Seamus said and Seamus kept his hand on Dean’s knee affectionately. 

“Yeah, definitely. Enough was going on in our seventh year, worst thing would to not go through it with the person you’re closest to.”

“Was Dean in Azkaban then?” 

Professor Longbottom shook his head. “No, he was on the run then when he got back to Hogwarts he fought in the battle. I don’t know the full details but on the run is better than Azkaban.”

“I’d bet,” he muttered. 

As he looked back at the couple he felt Professor Longbottom’s eyes on him. “You caught on that they’re a couple, then?”

Albus tore his eyes away. He nodded in response and the smile that had returned to Professor Longbottom’s lips didn’t falter. “You should talk to them.”

He stared at his teacher. Was he implying what he thought he was? “What’d you mean?”

He shrugged. “Nothin’, sure they got stories. Or advice.”

He looked at his teacher, then back at the couple. They seemed to be focussed on each other but not so much that it’d be rude to try and talk to them. But he hadn’t spoken to them himself, only in the awkward shadow of his parents. 

“So they were best friends first, then?” he asked.

“Yep, definitely a story there.”

“I’d bet.”

He politely said goodbye to his professor and walked to the couple. How the hell was he going to approach this? He can’t just awkwardly go up to a couple he’d never spoken to before and ask “hey how’d you start dating?” But maybe their story would prompt him to sort things out with Scorpius as Professor Longbottom so heavily implied. With a final skull of his fire whisky he walked to the two and put on a smile that was somewhere between awkward and friendly. 

“Damn, is that little Albus, there?” Seamus asked when he got closer.

“Don’t swear in front of the kid, Seamus,” Dean scolded, but there was affection in his voice. 

“I’m not a kid, I’m seventeen,” he replied. 

“Okay fine, you’re a full grown adult,” Seamus said with a cheeky smile. 

“Did you want something?” Dean asked politely, ignoring his husband’s remarks. 

“Uh, yes, sort of?” it came out more as a question than he would’ve preferred. “I just wanted to ask something?”

Dean and Seamus exchanged a brief look, their faces suggesting they were expecting a question they’d been asked multiple times before. “Okay, what?” Dean asked.

“How’d you guys, y’know, go from friends to now?”

That was definitely not the question either expected. Seamus gave Dean a confused look but Dean kept his eyes on Albus.

“Uh, why do you want to know?” Dean didn’t sound offended by the question but he was definitely confused by it.

“I’m just… curious?” he stammered out. He couldn’t keep the nerves out of his tone as hard as he tried as he face turned pink. 

A knowing look passed through the two, a small smile on Seamus’s lips. “Really, aye?” he asked. “Just want to know our epic love story?” Seamus asked. 

“It’s not epic,” Dean argued with a smile.

“Anything that involves a war – especially separation – is epic.”

“Is there more to why you want to know?” Dean asked. “If there is, we won’t tell your dad.” 

“Oh yeah, we’ll keep it between us,” Seamus added.

When Albus didn’t reply, opting to stare at his feet, Dean said, “C’mon, pull up a chair. It’s okay.”

Albus sat in the armchair next to them and took a deep breath. He looked at them, trying to not let his eyes drift away. “Me and my best friend became more but he’s angry with me, because I won’t tell people.”

What he didn’t expect was the couple to smile at him. “Ah yes, that’s all too familiar,” Dean said. He turned to his husband. “Sounds like he’s a lot like you, eh?”

Seamus laughed. “Yep, definitely. You’re friends with Malfoy’s kid, right?”

Albus’s cheeks tinted but he nodded. “Yeah, it’s him.”

He didn’t understand how they could take it so lightly. Maybe because it had been so many years and they were passed the point he and Scorpius are at now. 

“Whelp, fuckin’ Potter’s kid and Malfoy’s kid, who’d’ve guessed?” Seamus said as if he were ready to burst into laughter. That almost made him leave, he hated it when people were like this. He didn’t need to hear sneers about being the opposite of what was expected of him, even in a light hearted way. 

“He’s saying that because they hated each other,” Dean assured when he saw Albus’s face. 

“Yeah, people were bettin’ on Rose and Scorpius though,” Seamus said with a good natured laugh. 

That brought a small smile to Albus’s lips. He remembered how Scorpius had that very brief crush on his cousin, one he later realised was him forcing himself to like a girl. Albus still wondered what would’ve happened if they did date. 

“So uh, the story?” Albus prompted. 

“Well, it’s a little long but we’ve got hours,” Seamus said with a grin. He cleared his throat. “You should know we weren’t just friends; we were best friends.”

…

Seamus had gone through some of his homework as he lay in the empty dorm room. His roommates had gone off to Harry’s Dumbledore’s Army business. He scoffed at that, surely his mother was right and it was simply all some publicity stunt.

…

“Why would you think that?” Albus interrupted. 

“Because I was a stupid kid, can you not interrupt?”

…

Dean had decided to join but Seamus still wasn’t sure. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Harry but seriously, how the hell could You-Know-Who be back? The git did like to be the centre of attention far too often. He was still suspicious over the Goblet of Fire fiasco from the previous year. Even if it was that pretty boy Hufflepuff with hair that looked like it’d be real nice to run his fingers through and really nice grey eyes, who was the champion, at least he got in fairly. 

He heard footsteps coming up the stairs and turned his head to see his best friend Dean walking in, a grin on his face.

“So how was it?” Seamus asked. 

“Sorry, sworn to secrecy,” Dean replied with a cheeky smirk and a shrug.

“Really? Can’t tell me nothin’?”

“Well, I can say it was boring without you.” Dean fell onto Seamus’s bed, pulling up next to him and smiled. 

“Still not gon’ join,” Seamus replied. 

“Your call,” Dean shrugged. “So, excited for Christmas?”

“I guess,” he replied with a shrug. “Miss me family.”

Dean smiled at him. “Well, hopefully you won’t miss me too much.” He playfully poked Seamus side. Seamus flinched and laughed, trying not to blush at the comment. Whatever he was feeling for Dean had been easy to ignore when he wasn’t making comments like that.

“Who says I’d miss you at all?” he replied with a smile. 

“Wanker,” he said affectionately. 

…

Seamus didn’t know why he loved being in the cold so much. A part of him enjoyed the feeling of the cold biting his skin. Another part liked to watch snowflakes leave a fluffy blanket on the ground. Being at Hogwarts gave the add on of people watching. Despite being very much of an extrovert sometimes it was nice to watch people as they went about their business. 

He watched some of his classmates. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, who were as inseparable as he and Dean were, sat with a book in their laps reading together. He was friends with them, good enough to ask Lavender to the Yule Ball as a friend. At the time she seemed like an option that made sense, maybe become boyfriend and girlfriend. But he spent the entire night with Dean too. Dean didn’t bring a date so he stayed with Seamus. You’d expect that Dean would’ve been a third wheel on the night but more than anything, Lavender was. She didn’t seem to annoyed with it, turning to talk to Padma, Parvati’s twin instead. That definitely marked it as a platonic date. 

But during the night he’d tried to figure out why he didn’t have interest in her. She was pretty, he knew that much. But that’s where it ended. He didn’t want her to be his girlfriend. He didn’t want to kiss her. He didn’t want to do any of that. It was a constant thing for him. Why did no girl make him feel like that? 

But when he had the chance to look around the room while Dean left to get a drink and Lavender was busy talking to Padma, his eyes fell onto Cedric Diggory who was dancing with Cho Chang. He was grinning at her and he was dressed pretty sharp in his dress robes. His soft hair had looked softer than ever. Despite being a seeker his build was strong and he was tall. Taller than Dean but not by much. He was extremely handsome, that was something he couldn’t ignore. He totally understood why so many girls fawned over him. He didn’t realise he was staring until Cedric looked right at him. He hadn’t looked creeped out, he simply gave Seamus a friendly smile and Seamus had looked away quickly, his face going red. 

He didn’t know why he stared. He just got lost in Cedric’s appearance. He hadn’t known why. He hadn’t known why he hadn’t reacted to Fleur like all the others guy did. Whenever Fleur would enter a room Dean would go stiff and his eye wouldn’t leave the girl. He didn’t understand why he didn’t feel that why. He knew she was pretty but he didn’t understand why Cedric made him feel the way Fleur made the other boys feel. He didn’t understand why he looked at Cedric the way the girls were.

When it had dawned on him why he almost had a panic attack.

…

“You had a crush on Cedric Diggory?” Albus was close to laughing. “Seriously?”

“Hey! A lot of people did!” Seamus argued.

“He had it pretty bad, I don’t know how people didn’t notice.”

“Well, you didn’t. And I wasn’t the one drooling over Fleur, or the Veela at the ‘94 world cup.”

“Hey, gay boys ain’t effected so get off your superiority.”

Albus cleared his throat. “Uh, can you continue?”

…

His crush on Cedric didn’t last too long. The crush itself had manifested into utter distaste for him and belittling him to others whenever he could, the target being his looks. No one would have noticed his crush if he talked about them in a sarcastic tone. 

That year felt like a long time ago. His crush was gone before Cedric’s death and attraction had snatched on to an even worse option; Dean. 

Dean had definitely bulked up during the summer holidays before fifth year. He grown a few inches taller and he jaw was sharper. Seamus hadn’t ever noticed Dean like that but when he started to it didn’t cease. And it was scary as fuck.

A snowball hit Seamus in the back of his head and he turned to see a smirking Dean coming to sit next to him.

“Lookin’ at girls are you?” he asked playfully. 

Seamus patted off the snow from his head and blushed. “Was the snowball necessary?” he asked. 

“Yes, of course.”

“Wanker,” he muttered playfully. 

Dean smiled at him and looked at Lavender and Parvati. “So, were you ever going to ask Lavender out again?” he asked.

Seamus’s gaze dropped to his lap. “Uh, nah. I didn’t really fancy her.”

“I’m surprised she wasn’t angry you ignored her like Padma was at Weasley.”

Seamus smiled. “Yeah, me too.” She honestly hadn’t seemed to care much at all. 

“You really didn’t need to talk to me instead just because I didn’t have a date.”

“Well, maybe I talked to you because I like you more than I like her,” he said, smiling.

Dean laughed. “Yeah, and she probably wanted to go with Diggory like every other girl in this school.”

He had to stop himself from saying, “and probably some of the boys” but he didn’t. Instead, he said, “You mean like how you wanted to go with Fleur?”

Dean waved him off. “Yeah, I guess. But to be fair I heard she’s part Veela so it wasn’t totally my fault. I’m surprised you didn’t take interest.”

“Uh, well maybe I just have a resistance or somethin’.” You could call it a resistance. Not being attracted to girls was definitely a resistance. 

Dean chuckled. “Yeah well looks like most of the guys don’t so don’t hold it against me.”

Seamus smiled and looked away. His eyes drifted over to some seventh year Hufflepuffs. There was a mixture of genders so Dean wouldn’t get suspicious but his eyes fell on a Hufflepuff. His hair was jet black and was of Korean decent. His teeth were impossibly white. He still didn’t know his name but Seamus remembered him catching his eye in first year. It took his mind off of the feeling brought in his gut by Dean for a sparing moment. 

“Anyways, were you wanting to come back inside? It’s fuckin’ freezing and you still have homework to finish,” Dean said, cutting Seamus out of his trance. 

He looked back his best friend, who was smiling right at him. Dean was the much more studious one of the pair and if it weren’t for him most of Seamus’s homework would’ve always waited until the last minute. 

“Will you help me?” Seamus asked with his best smile.

Dean smiled back. “Okay fine, only because I like you so much.” 

…

“Dean, Seamus! Come sit with us!” Lavender said, waving her arm as they passed the compartment. With a shrug the pair made their way into the compartment, sitting across from Lavender and Parvati.

“Hey guys,” Seamus said. “Where’s ye sister, Parvati?”

She shrugged. “She always sits with her friends,” she said. “Anything special happening over the holiday?”

“I’m spending it with me dad’s side of the family,” Seamus said. “They’re muggles though and don’t know ‘bout Hogwarts. Think I’m at some muggle boarding school.”

“I’m sure your girlfriend misses you,” Lavender said with a playful smile.

“Haha,” Seamus replied sarcastically. “What’re you doing then?”

“Just the usual stuff, family dinner. My family are all wizards so I don’t need to hide anything. Down side is they’ll ask how I’m doing in my classes.”

“We don’t celebrate Christmas but I really like the holidays,” smiled Parvati. “Mostly because I get to see Padma. Being separated by house really sucks.” 

Dean nodded. “Yeah, weird how you were separated but all the Weasley’s are together.” 

“What about you?” Lavender asked. “You’re a muggle born, right?”

Dean nodded. “Yeah, just spending it with my mum and step family. Nothing special.”

“I’ll be sure to send you some letters so you’re not too bored ‘round the muggles,” Seamus smiled.

“You better,” Dean smiled at him. As he did, Seamus didn’t miss the knowing look the girls exchanged. 

…

“So they knew?” Albus asked, cocking his head to the side. 

“Yeah, they were pretty intuitive,” Seamus laughed. 

“Or we were just obvious,” Dean interjected.

“Yeah, that too. Kind of silly to think we didn’t catch on to the other really.”

“Yeah, especially when you were looking at guys right in front of him,” Albus said with a laugh. 

“Okay, okay, baby gay me was too obvious. But it was also a different time,” Seamus defended. “I was scared and confused – which we’ll get to soon.”

…

Seamus’s dad invited some friends over a few days before Christmas, a few deciding to bring their children. One brought their daughter who was a year younger than Seamus. She kept smiling at him from across the room and when she got the chance she made her way to Seamus’s side. 

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi?” he replied. She was pretty, he’d admit that. She kind of looked like Lavender. Her hair was straight blonde, reaching to her waist. She was wearing bright red lipstick which surprisingly hadn’t found its way to her teeth. And she had dark brown eyes, as dark as Dean’s. 

He chewed his lip as she batted her eye lashes at him. He wasn’t used to girls around his age showing interest in him. Most girls at Hogwarts around his age had known him for years and that seemed to lead to them not seeing him as a romantic prospect. Other guys obviously showed no interest in him. Other guys didn’t think about other guys like that. 

So he took in the girl. He flirted along with her. She was definitely intrigued when he said he went to a boarding school in Scotland. He avoided the subject and simply asked about her. He had absolutely no interest in her but this was what you’re meant to do at his age. He was meant to snog girls when he could, especially one showing so much interest. 

“Wan’ go outside? Somewhere alone?” he asked. He couldn’t suggest his room as it had all his magical possessions. 

She nodded and they walked to the back yard. She giggled as he took her gently by the wrist and pulled her to the bushes. When they found a secluded spot she grinned at him and he smiled at her. Yeah, she was definitely really pretty but not the pretty he wanted to kiss. Not Diggory, not that seventh year Hufflepuff, not Dean. She was a girl and no matter how much he forced himself he didn’t feel how he was meant to about girls. 

Regardless of that he kissed her. She smiled against his lips and kissed him back. It wasn’t awful, he’d admit that. But it didn’t feel right, he wasn’t enjoying it. When he looked at guys, when they smiled at him, he got knots in his stomach. He felt nothing when this girl smiled at him flirtatiously. He felt nothing when her fingers tangled in his hair. He didn’t want to snog her. He didn’t want to snog any girl.

He wanted to snog fucking Dean. 

…

Seamus was still slightly dazed from his realisation over Christmas break. Being a poof was bad enough but this crush on Dean was the worst it could get. He’d been pushing it from his mind for months but after snogging the muggle girl, he couldn’t deny it anymore. 

“Hey, wanker!” 

Dean turned and smiled when he saw Dean pushing his trolley along platform 10 of King’s Cross station. Seamus smiled and left his trolley with his mum to run to him. 

“Aye, dickhead,” he said and patted Dean’s back a friendly hug. When he stepped away he greeted Dean’s mum with a nod. “Ma’am,” he smiled.

“Hello, Seamus,” she said with a small laugh and a smile. “Enjoy your Christmas?”

Seamus nodded at her. “Yes, ma’am.” He turned back to Dean. “C’mon, let’s get a good seat ‘fore they’re all taken.”

They ran onto platform 9 ¾ and gave their mothers their farewells before getting onto the train.

“So, anythin’ fun happen over the holidays?” Dean asked when they found an empty compartment.

“I snogged a girl,” Seamus said, scratching the back of his neck. Maybe if he pretended he didn’t have these feelings for Dean they’ll just go away.

Dean smiled at him. “Did you, aye?” he asked. “So you got yourself a girlfriend?”

“Nah, we just snogged a little. We’ll probably never see each other again.” And he didn’t want to. When they stopped snogging he made an excuse and ran up to his room, wiping the lipstick marks from his mouth and lain on his bed, trying to process his realisation. He knew he was attracted to Dean but an actual crush was different. It made him sick and he was angry with himself for feeling this way. 

“Shame, no girl at school want to snog you.”

“What’s this about snogging?” 

The compartment door opened as Parvati and Lavender bounced in, sitting across from the two.

“Seamus snogged a girl during the holidays,” he smiled and Seamus blushed. 

“You did, huh?” Lavender asked, smiling. 

“It was just some muggle girl, her dad works with mine,” he muttered.

“So when’s the wedding?” Parvati teased.

Seamus smiled. “Keep that up and you can’t come.”

They bantered a little and talked about their holidays 

When they got back to Hogwarts Seamus and Dean went straight to their dorm, falling down onto Dean’s bed. 

“So, what’ll take to convince you to come to the DA meeting?” Dean asked.

“Really, doin’ this again?” Seamus asked, turning his head to Dean. 

“Look, can you come for one? Why do you refuse to believe You-Know-Who’s back?”

Seamus was silent for a moment. Truthfully, it was scary. If You-Know-Who was back that would mean death and terror. Dean was a muggle-born and everyone knew they would be at threat the most. He didn’t want to think of anything bad happening to Dean. 

“I guess it’s just scary,” he said instead. “Anything could happen if he’s really back.”

“That’s why we need to learn to defend ourselves,” Dean said and he ran his fingers through Seamus’s hair. Seamus stopped himself from flinching away at that. “We even learnt how to do a Patronus.”

“Seriously?” Dean nodded. “Fine, I’ll go.”

…

“Expecto Patronum!” Seamus shouted and grinned when he saw something shoot out of his wand. It was a full Patronus but it only lasted a few moments. “I think it’s somethin’ hairy!” 

“Nice, mate!” Dean grinned and patted his shoulder. He smiled at him over his shoulder and grinned back.

Before he could try enough times to figure out what it was, a house elf came into the room. Seamus looked in confusion but he warned everyone that Umbridge was coming. Before Seamus could react, Dean grabbed his hand and pulled him with him out of the Room of Requirement. He stumbled over his feet but got his footing, keeping up with Dean. Dean kept a firm grip on his hand so he was running faster than he was used to. They got to the Fat Lady and blurted out the password. He wasn’t able to check if any of the other Gryffindors were behind them but they panted in the common room, falling onto a couch. 

“That was close,” he panted out. 

“Definitely,” Dean nodded. “C’mon, let’s get to our dorm. Maybe we can avoid the bitch that way.”

Seamus nodded and they walked to their dorm. It was empty so they sat on Dean’s bed. They were quiet for a moment and Seamus let his sweaty hair fall into his face. His knee was pressing against Dean thigh as Seamus still lightly panted. He didn’t have the best stamina especially compared to Dean’s. It was nice holding Dean’s warm hand for a little bit though. 

He heard Dean sigh and he felt Dean’s hand brush his hair out of his face. He was looking Seamus right in the eye and was chewing his bottom lip. He pulled his behind Seamus’s head and he closed the small space between them by bringing Seamus’s lips to his. 

Their lips moved gently together, slowly. This was how he imagined kissing that girl should’ve felt. Rather than not minding the kiss, he felt butterflies in the pit of his stomach. He felt the connection. It felt… right.

He pulled away first, and sat up. Dean looked up at him, looking disappointed. Seamus looked down at him surprised. “Sorry,” Dean whispered. “I don’t know why I...”

“No, it’s… it was okay,” he stuttered out. Or more than okay. Really nice actually. “Found a loophole in that eight-inches rule though, aye?” 

Dean didn’t laugh. He sat up and looked down at his lap. “That took a lot for me to do, y’know.”

Fuck. This wasn’t how this was meant to happen. But he didn’t want to see Dean hurt like this. He sat up and while sitting on his knees, he leaned over to Dean. He held Dean’s face in his hands as he gently kissed him. Dean seemed slightly surprised at first but he kissed him back, his hands holding his hips. 

When he kissed Dean, it was like time had slowed down and sped up at the same time. It was a comforting feelings. Doing this with Dean felt right. 

However, they were broken apart by loud footsteps. Seamus jumped off his bed and they both sat up, trying to act casual. 

Neville came into the room and his face was read from running and was panting heavily.

“You okay, Longbottom?” Seamus asked.

He nodded, wheezing slightly and collapsed on his bed. Seamus looked back at Dean, who was sitting and hugging his knees. He smiled at Seamus and said, “Well, better get to bed.”

“Right,” Seamus said.

…

The dorm was empty when Seamus had gotten upstairs. He wasn’t sure where Dean was but he’d been avoiding him. He didn’t want to confront his feelings for Dean. Sure, he kissed him first but he didn’t let Dean leave it, he just had to kiss him back. Who knows how long they would’ve gone if Neville hadn’t walked in. They rarely got time alone in their dorm so if they were ever going to talk about what happened it’d have to be in times like this. 

He stared at the ceiling, laid on his bed. His curtains were closed to not be disturbed. Maybe if Dean walked up he’d turn around. Maybe he’d just forget it happened. Maybe they’d just leave it behind them as a fluke, never speak of it again, and marry girls like they were meant to. 

…

“You really thought that?” Albus asked, frowning at Seamus. 

“It was the 90’s,” Seamus replied. “It was long before marriage equality. And we live in Ireland so we couldn’t officially get married until 2015.” 

Dean nodded. “We both really didn’t know how to deal with the situation, things really were real different back then. Judgment and all. I didn’t care but…” his eyes darted to Seamus.

Seamus nodded, rather shamefully. “It was tough. When you’re told so much you’re meant to marry a girl falling, for a bloke, best friend or not, is tough.”

…

The door to the dorm opened and close and the curtains were pulled back at the foot of the bed. Seamus looked over to see Dean, grinning right at Seamus. 

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi,” Seamus replied, giving him an awkward smile. 

“Room for ‘nother?” 

Seamus smiled and shuffled over. They would lay in one of their beds together a lot. They just hadn’t done it with the curtains closed. That’d make it feel much smaller, a reason to lay closer. 

“Sure,” he decided to say, shuffling over to make room. Dean smiled and crawled in next to him, He used his wand to close the curtain behind him and rested his head next to Seamus’s. 

“Comfy?” he asked, playfully poking his side. 

“I guess,” he mumbled. 

Dean looked at him for a moment. “So… that kiss…” he prompted.

Seamus looked at him, his eyelids half closed. “Why’d you do it?”

Dean chewed his lip. “Maybe I have liked you for a while?” he said softly. “Why’d you kiss me? What happened to the muggle girl?”

Seamus pressed his lips together. “I didn’t like kissing her,” he replied, closing his eyes. “I don’t think girls are my things.”

“Oh,” was all Dean said. 

“Oh?” he asked, opening his eyes. “That’s all you have to say?” when Dean didn’t say anything Dean sighed. “I didn’t actually want to be a poof,” he said, barely above a whisper, looking away. 

He felt Dean run his fingers through his hair. “So what if you, or should I say we, are?”

Seamus was quiet, and he felt Dean’s warm breath as he sighed. “What if we… we keep it quiet?”

Seamus met his eye again. “What?”

“I really like you, and you kissed me back so I assumed you feel something too.”

“Yeah… I do.”

“So what if we just… don’t tell people until you’re ready?”

Seamus stared at him. Being together could mean anything. Disappointment from their families, friends turning on them, a much harder life. He knew this piece of him wouldn’t just disappear. 

“Okay, yeah,” Seamus nodded. “I’d like that.”

…

For the months that followed they snuck around, snogging at times they could. The times that they could were rare but a lot of the time they stole smiles and sat together in classes – the latter was easy to get away with as they’d already done it since first year. 

Seamus still wasn’t at the point where he could tell other people. If someone passed their dorm when they were alone cuddling or snogging, Seamus would jump off the bed and get away from Dean. Luckily if it was one of their dorm mates they were far too oblivious to notice either of them were acting a bit off. 

Dean didn’t hide that it bothered him whenever Seamus did that. But he’d seemed to be avoiding to talk about it. Seamus understood he wasn’t the biggest fan of the situation. If they were going to be a couple – a real couple – he wanted people to know. It didn’t feel real if they just kissed in secret. He wasn’t ashamed of how he felt about Dean but he was scared as fuck. 

They were settled on Dean’s bed, Seamus under Dean as they snogged under the sheets. Seamus’s in Dean’s hair, careful not to tug on the tight curls. The end of the year nearing and they’d hopefully see each other over the school holidays. Getting in time to snog – and maybe go on a date without raising suspicions – would be easier. 

In the midst of their snogging, Seamus heard footsteps come close to the dorm. In his panic he shot up from under Dean, pushing Dean in the process, and falling to the floor, quickly crawling backward to his bed. He listened carefully as the footsteps grew softer and farther away from their room. He let out a huff of relief and stood up. 

“That was close,” he said and looked at Dean. He looked… downright pissed off. “What?”

“Seriously?” he grunted. “You seriously did that?”

“And what would’ve we said if someone came in?” Seamus asked, crossing his arms.

“Tell them that we’re together maybe?” Dean glared. “And they wouldn’t’ve cared.”

“How do we know that?” 

“You really think Longbottom’ll care? Or Potter and Weasley?” he said through gritted teeth. “Because they won’t, you git.”

“Dean, please calm down-“

“Calm down?” he huffed. “Look, I only said we could keep this quiet until you’re ready because I thought you’d quickly get over it. But I don’t know if I want to be with you if you’re going to be like this.”

“Like what?”

“Fucking closeted like this!”

“Fucking easy for you to say!” he snapped back, his rage coming out. “I can’t make meself like girls. You’re bi, if you wanted you can go off with a girl. So much easier since that’s what we’re meant to do.”

Dean took a deep breath and looked Seamus right in the eye. “Fine, maybe I’ll do that instead.” And before Seamus could get in another word Dean stormed out of the room. Tears prickled in his eyes and he took a deep breath and sank onto the floor. 

He’d fucked up big time. 

…

Seamus spent the summer without talking to Dean. The last time they’d really spoken was the blow out at each other. He’d thought of sending a letter to Dean but he couldn’t figure out what to write. He’d thought about apologising but he refused to. He had nothing to be sorry for. He wasn’t ready to tell anybody that he and Dean were dating, much less that he was gay.

…

“But you had a point!” Albus interrupted. “You weren’t ready.

“Right,” Seamus said. “But I also didn’t care that I was hurting Dean.” he looked at his husband and squeezed his knee. “Really, I did care way too much about how others thought of me. Me not wanting to tell people was what put the strain on our relationship. Some people are in unsafe situations where they can’t tell, but we weren’t. I just cared about people giving me dirty looks. I knew your dad and uncle – and Neville – wouldn’t care but I imagined the worst situation. I was mostly scared because of me family. Didn’t know how much old Irish values would impact ‘em. Me dad comes a Catholic family – obviously – and he had enough trouble processing me ma’m’s a witch.”

“So what happened then?”

…

“You gettin’ your homework done, Seamus?” his mum asked part way through breakfast. 

His dad shuffled in his seat as he read the newspapers but Seamus ignored it. He didn’t need to be comfortable with it as long as he didn’t treat either him or his mum like they were possessed by a demon. 

“Yeah,” he shrugged. 

“You been talkin’ to any friends?”

He shook his head. “No.”

She gave him a concerned look. “What ‘bout Dean?”

At that question he stuffed eggs into his mouth and shrugged as he chewed. Thankfully his mum didn’t push, catching on there was some sort of rift between the two. 

“Do you have other friends at the school?” his dad asked, looking over his newspaper. 

“Yeah, I’m friends with a couple of the girls,” he said. If he needed any affirmation of liking girls that would hopefully do it. 

“Pretty?” his dad asked.

“Yeah, I went to the formal with one last year.”

His dad smiled and resumed reading. He felt a pang in his stomach and took a long sip of his tea. He felt his mum’s eyes on him as he did, almost calculating his expression and mannerisms. God forbid she caught on.

“You should write Dean to see how he’s goin’,” she said.

“Maybe later.”

…

He didn’t end up sending him a letter and when he caught the Hogwarts express he didn’t go looking for him. He found a compartment with Lavender and Parvati, not bothering to look for Dean. Neither girl questioned him but they didn’t hide the concern on their faces. As they talked, Seamus stared out the window, watching the scenery pass. He didn’t get anything like he usually would when the trolley witch passed, even though he was pretty hungry but at the same time, he didn’t have an appetite. He simply said he was saving room for the feast. 

He was able to avoid Dean until they were in the dorm room. He was getting ready for bed and he was the only one in the dorm. 

“Hey,” he said slowly. 

“Hey,” he replied, not trying to keep the bitterness out of his tone.

“Did you have a good holiday?” his teeth sunk into his bottom lip. 

“It was fine,” he muttered, looking away from him. 

An uncomfortable silence fell between them, the tension thick in the room. He should just apologise. If he apologised maybe they’d figure something out. Maybe he’d work on trying to come out. Maybe they could tell their roommates. That’s a step forward. Surly they wouldn’t care. And it’d definitely make Dean happy-

“I’m dating Ginny Weasley now.” That got Seamus’s attention. 

…

“Wait, you dated my mum?” Albus asked, looking at Dean in surprise. 

Dean chuckled at that and Seamus looked annoyed. “Yeah, and you’ll find out what happened if you stop interrupting,” Seamus said annoyed, clearly frustrated with Albus’s constant interrupting. 

…

He looked at him across the room. “You said I should date a girl, it’s easier like you said.”

He took a deep breath, trying to hold off his tears. “Hope you’re fuckin’ happy,” he said bitterly. 

“We are,” He said it like it was a challenge. 

“Good.” Yeah, he was ready to cry but there was no way he’d do it in front of Dean. 

…

Hogwarts was different without Dean. He didn’t have someone he could always sit with, usually finding his way next to other Gryffindors with a spare seat. Looks of confusion were definitely given when he was seen without Dean. When asked he’d just mutter something about Dean being with Ginny but it didn’t always work out in classes. No one pushed but people were definitely curious. It was understandable, they’d been inseparable since they were first years. It was always the two of them together, they were almost a package deal. So one without the other somewhere they’d surely be together was strange to their classmates.

Dean didn’t even try to act like he wasn’t trying to make Seamus jealous. He found Dean snogging Ginny in the common room-

…

“You know,” Albus said, “This may sound crazy but I don’t want to hear about my mum snogging anyone.”

…

Seamus had to try and not look a combination of jealous and heartbroken. To anyone else it was an annoying couple but it was like Dean was saying he could snog her in full view of everyone and not him. And all because he was a huge fucking coward who cared too much of what other thought. 

When he went upstairs, he saw Ron muttering something under his breath as he did his homework. 

“Hey, Weasley,” he muttered going to his bed.

“Hey,” he grunted. “They still snogging?”

“Yep,” he replied bitterly. 

“What’re you pissed for, not like Dean’s your brother or anything.”

“I’m not pissed,” he replied defensively. “And shouldn’t you be droolin’ over Granger?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ron defended, then huffed. “And you are pissed. I would assume it had something to with Dean starting to ignore you but you’ve seemed to be avoiding him.”

“Piss off, Weasley.”

…

Ginny came storming into the common room and Dean was awkwardly on her tail. “I said I didn’t push you!” he said.

“I said I don’t care, Dean. I already broke up with you.”

Seamus’s eyes followed them, as did everyone else’s who were in the common room. Everyone was silent but before Dean could get anymore words in Ginny ran up to the girls’ dorms. Dean stood frozen at the foot of the staircase, knowing there was no bother trying to get up there without the steps turning into a slide. 

He sighed and when he turned around, his eyes locked with Seamus’s. They hadn’t spoken in months. Too many months for them. He bit his lip and clearly broke under everyone’s eyes being on him, and he went upstairs. Seamus watched him as he walked upstairs to the boys’ dorm. Seamus pressed his lips together, stood up, and followed Dean upstairs. 

He opened the door to their room, and cleared his throat. Dean looked over at him and huffed. “Enjoy that, did ya?” 

Seamus shuffled on his feet. He took a deep breath and decided it was time to swallow his pride. 

“I’m sorry.”

Dean met his eye and cocked his head to the side. “What?”

“I’m sorry for… refusing to come out. For saying you should just… date a girl.”

Dean pressed his lips together. “You should be.” Seamus didn’t argue, he was right. “Look, that thing about be just dating a girl that somehow easier is fucking bullocks. I can’t choose,” he hesitated. “I can’t choose who I fall for, Seamus.”

Seamus nodded, realising he had a completely valid point. “I’m a total fucking wanker,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

Dean smiled and with his wand closed the door. He stepped closer to him, took his face into his hands, and kissed him. Seamus kissed him back gently, wrapping his arms around Dean’s waist. Right now, even if things weren’t completely fixed at least they were back to this.

…

When Gryffindor won the final Quidditch game for the year Seamus ran to Dean and hugged him as Dean bellowed with laughter. They went back to the common room for the celebratory party and they shared a bottle of butter bear. Everyone was beyond excited over the victory and Harry seemed to be too since he kissed Ginny in front of everyone, being met with wolf whistles and hollers. Dean stared at the two in surprise, not sure what to do in the situation. Seamus saw Ron give Harry a shrug of approval and the new couple grinned in joy.

“That was fast,” Dean muttered.

Seamus looked over at Dean, then back at everyone else who were continuing their celebration. He was thinking of telling Dean how he was one to talk, but he decided to show him instead.

He grabbed him by the collar of his robes, pulled Dean to him, and he kissed him. In front of everyone.

Dean was definitely surprised at first but he kissed him back, smiling into the kiss, clearly happy Seamus was over his fear of what other were thinking of them. There were a couple holler of “I knew it’s” and a couple of playful wolf whistles but no one seemed to care that two boys were kissing in the common room.

“Talk about moving on fast,” Lavender teased when they pulled away, grinning at the two.

…

“It wasn’t always sunshine after that though,” Seamus said. “We were separated during the war because Dean was on the run for being a muggle-born.”

Dean nodded. “It was terrifying; we didn’t know if the other was alive or not.”

…

Seventh year was meant to be a good year, not a year you fended off a war. More so, it wasn’t a year you were meant to go through thinking to person you loved most in the world was dead. 

The months went by, the DA tried to defend the school but this wasn’t something people their age should experience. Seamus had marks from the Carrows clear on his face but he didn’t care about that. He cared the boy he loved was in danger. He cared that he didn’t know if Dean was alive or dead. He cared that Dean didn’t know if he was alive or dead. And he was especially pissed off there was nothing he could do to make sure Dean was safe. 

But then the day came. 

The door leading to connected to Hog’s Head in the Room of Requirement opened and out came the boy Seamus loved most in this world. 

He didn’t even have to think, with a roar of delight, he ran to Dean and threw his arms around him, holding him tight, as if he would disappear again if he didn’t. Dean nuzzled into the crook of Seamus neck, both of them lightly sobbing, whimpers of “I missed you” were exchanged. When they pulled away, Dean took Seamus’s face into his hands and kissed him, tasting each other’s salty tears. No one interrupted them, they were either not paying attention or knew that couple needed this moment, need their reunion. 

“I love you,” Seamus whimpered out. Words that had been on his tongue since they were separated, finally in the air. 

“I love you too,” Dean sobbed out in response. 

When they pulled away, Dean held Seamus’s face in his hands. “Oh my god, what happened?” he asked, his eyes widening at the scars on his face.

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Seamus assured. “Just some battle scars.”

Dean nodded, gently running his fingers over the marks. There was still a battle to fight in.

…

“Can you skip the history lesson and jump to the parent stuff?” Albus asked.

“Oh, not much to say on that,” Seamus shrugged. “Told our parents, they said they had suspicions. That’s it.”

“Really, that’s it?”

“Your family was real supportive of us; I doubt they’d be any different with you.”

Dean gave him a warm smile. “Really, if you take anything from this, it’s that we were way happier when we weren’t keeping it a secret.”

Albus bit his lip and nodded. He definitely got their story, that he was essentially Seamus in this situation. 

He needed to talk to Scorpius.

“Albus!” a voice called and he saw his Aunt Hermione walking to the group. “Your dad’s looking for you, almost time to go.”

“Oh, okay,” he said and hastily stood up. 

“Hey, Granger,” Seamus grinned at her. 

Aunt Hermione smiled at the two. “Oh hey you two. Was meaning to say hi, keeping Albus busy huh? Better than sitting in the corner.”

“Yeah, just told him some school stories,” Dean smiled. 

“You got a lot, I’m sure,” Aunt Hermione laughed.

Albus left the three to catch up and went to find his parents. James waved him over to them and he walked over, his hands in his pockets. 

“Where were you?” James asked. 

Albus shrugged. “Talking to some of dad’s old classmates,” he shrugged. 

“Who?”

“I don’t know what their last names are, but Dean and Seamus.”

“Oh, you met Dean and Seamus?” his mum smiled.

He nodded. “Yeah, they’re nice. Seem happy together.”

His mum nodded. “Yeah, they were best friends for years before ending up together.” 

“Does he mean Mr and Mr Thomas-Finnigan?” James asked.

“Yeah, the couple we ran into at the world cup last year.”

“Why were you talking to them?” Lily asked, cocking her head to the side.

“Professor Longbottom told me to,” he said. “Said they’re fun and have good stories.” It was half the truth so he decided to run with it. 

His dad was finishing his goodbyes with the members of the DA. He and Uncle Ron had joined Hermione with talking to Dean and Seamus. The four were smiling, conversing like the old classmates they were. 

“Mum, can I Apparate home this time?” James asked. 

“No, James.”

“Ugh, but why not?”

“Albus, have you said bye to Dean and Seamus?” his mum asked, ignoring James.

“No, didn’t get a chance,” He replied.

“Well, go be polite and give them a proper farewell.”

He nodded and made his way over to the two. His Aunt and Uncle had left with their children but his dad was still there.

“Uh, it was nice meeting you properly,” Albus said to the couple.

They smiled at him. “You too, Albus,” Dean said.

“What’d you even tell him about, anyway?” his dad asked.

“Just school stories,” Seamus said. 

“Far less interesting than the stories you have to tell him, I’m sure,” Dean said. 

His dad smiled. “Nah, I’m sure you two have plenty of stories I missed.”

The couple simply smiled in response to the comment. “Well, we got to get home anyway, it’s pretty late.”

“It was great seeing you two again,” his dad said. 

“You too,” Dean said.

“Good luck at Hogwarts, Albus,” Seamus said giving him a quick wink. Albus smiled, knowing exactly what he meant by that. 

And the two Apparated out of the room with a loud crack.

“Those two seriously haven’t changed,” his dad said. 

“That’s good to know.”

…

Albus had debated in his mind what to do first; whether he should tell his parents he was gay or try to make up with Scorpius.

He’d settled on telling his parents first. Even if Scorpius didn’t take him back he still couldn’t hide his sexuality from his parents. So as he was walking up the stairs to go to bed one night, he’d called down that he was gay. Instantly, he was met with acceptance and especially hugs from everyone. Dean and Seamus definitely weren’t wrong and he realised this was the easy part.

He started by sending Scorpius an owl, stating he’d told his parents that he was gay, so he could only hope Scorpius decided to read it. He was expecting an owl to be sent back or to be ignored but instead he got something that was completely unexpected. 

Scorpius Apparated right into his room. 

He couldn’t get any words out because Scorpius’s lips were on his, kissing him over and over and over, apologising for being horrible to Albus in between each kiss. 

He told Albus that during their time apart he told his dad he was gay and, being the loving father he was, he accepted him immediately. Of course they did eventually tell their families they were more than friends and that was accepted fast too. When the news got around Hogwarts everyone seemed the farthest from surprised. 

At the end of Herbology one day, Albus decided to ask Professor Longbottom something that had been on his mind for too long. 

“Excuse me, Professor?” he asked as everyone had cleared out.

“Yes Albus?” Professor Longbottom ask, his cheeks extra plump.

“Did you know about me and Scorpius? Is that why you told me to talk to Dean and Seamus?” Professor Longbottom smiled and nodded. “How’d you know?”

“Albus, I roomed with Dean and Seamus for six years, I know what it looks like when two best friends fall in love.”


End file.
